


Fleeting

by Selah



Series: Matteiru Kara [2]
Category: NCIS, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 05:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14129541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah
Summary: Nothing special, just some time spent with her best friend.





	Fleeting

**Author's Note:**

> Another short one from the Ladies Bingo line that wasn't, prompt of "shopping together." The unnamed singles are "Kagerou" by BUCK-TICK and "Squall" by D'espairsRay, putting this at end of April, 2007. Yes, that's a long time for a single to still be in the "recent" releases machine, but a) it's B-T and b) creative license.

Abigail tried not to notice the way Miko was bouncing with impatience, but it was a little difficult. Now that it was Golden Week and Miko was actually letting her hair down, literally and metaphorically, she was just so cute!

“Abby-saaaaaan! We're just going shopping, it's not like you're going to meet your soulmate or something!”

“You don't know that!” she countered, even though she agreed. Still, a nice sunny day meant taking proper precautions for as fair-skinned as she was. She took care of herself, she was not going to let something like skin cancer get her.

“Are you really sure you want to come with me?” Abby asked as she picked up her purse at last. “I mean, I found a tattoo artist on the message boards, he's pretty well recommended and I want to check out his shop, but I know tattooing is kind of ... you don't have to come with me for that part if you don't want, I'll understand.”

“And when you get lost trying to find this place?” Miko countered with a little shake of her head. “I'm not afraid! Two heads are better than one, you know!”

“All right, all right!” Abby said, laughing. “I just wanted to be sure. Cuz if he's as good as everyone says, I'm gonna want to get one. Or five. I mean, not all at once, obviously, but....”

Miko rolled her eyes and grabbed Abby's hand, tugging her out of their dorm room, much to her chagrin. Well, that settled that, she supposed.

Abby had told herself that she was just out looking, that she wasn't going to buy anything since there was nothing she really _needed_ and anyway, she needed to save up as much as she could for when she had to move out at the end of the school year. And for her tattoos. Fortunately, Miko had been dragging her from clothing store to clothing store, so it had been pretty easy. By the time they stopped at a conveyor sushi place for lunch, she had successfully resisted buying anything at all, unlike her roommate.

“You're making me feel bad, Bi-chan,” Miko said with a playful out.

“It's not on purpose!” she protested with a shy smile. “I just ... don't really need more clothes right now? I mean, I'm going to need a heavy winter coat and boots, but since I didn't see anything ... I'm guessing that's going to have to wait for closer to winter?”

“If you want a good sale price, yeah,” Miko agreed with a nod. “I mean there's a big sporting goods store in Shinjuku that carries some of that all year for skiers and snowboarders and such, but it tends to be expensive and probably not what you want anyway. But still.... Ah! I know, we'll stop at the coin lockers and then go to Tower Records after this. I have to go pick up my pre-order and then we can check out the visual kei section. I bet you'll be able to find something you like there!”

“You're just determined to get me into that stuff, aren't you?” Abby teased.

“I know _just_ the band for you this time. Trust me, you'll love them, they're very ... you,” Miko said with a little hand gesture. Abby wasn't too sure what to make of that. Still, she would listen, but she wasn't buying. Anything. Except a new tattoo.

~*~*~

Standing in front of a display of the top ten recent visual kei releases, Abby couldn't help wondering how much was lost on her, someone who couldn't see color at all. From what she had been taught, she was reasonably certain it was a brightly colored display, probably in red or blue, but other than that....

“Oh good, they're still in the machine,” Miko said, handing Abby a pair of heavy headphones. Skeptical, she still put them on and waited to hear what it was Miko was so eager to share with her. Almost from the moment the song started, Abby was hooked. By the first chorus she was swaying a little and by the bridge she was completely in love. The lyrics, the vocal style, it hit her right in the ribs and when the song ended she could feel herself pouting.

“Ah-hah! I knew it!” Miko said, grinning widely. “Gotcha, yeah?”

Abby leaned forward, but she hadn't been paying enough attention and the selection had already cleared from the screen.

“Mou ... how do I play it again?” she asked.

“This one,” Miko said as she pushed the button. Abby closed her eyes and fell back into the song. Perfect.

“Okay,” Miko said when it was over again, jumping up to pull the headphones off Abby's head, “twice is all you get. You want more, you buy it.”

“Tyrant,” Abby grumbled, fighting back a smile as she scanned the display again. “Dammit, it's empty.”

“Eh? Oh, well, maybe they have more. You check the regular area, it's right there, and I'll go see if I can't find a member of staff.”

Shaking her head a little, Abby found several other releases by the band in question, along with a rather small hand-written card suggesting other bands she might like, but not the single she was after. Sighing, she pulled a tiny notebook out of her purse and started making notes for later research. She wasn't sure if any of these recommendations would lead to anything, but maybe.

“Got it!” Miko announced with a grin, bouncing up to her side. “And you're getting this one, too.”

“Eh? Miko-chan, I don't know if I can....”

“Oh fine,” her friend said, handing her some cash, too. “But _you_ have to get it, the clerk picked it out specifically for you!”

Abby frowned at the two CDs, wondering what, if anything, the two bands might have in common. Probably not much, but since Miko was insisting, she would just have to give the second band a try, too. At least the cover art looked intriguingly morbid, though that didn't necessarily mean anything.

“Please enjoy your purchase and come back any time for more recommendations,” the clerk said, handing over her bag with a smile and bow. He did have an awfully cute smile, too. Almost a shame he wasn't the one for her.

“Sooo ... time to find that tattoo shop?” Miko asked next. “Where did you say it was?”

“Um, Udagawa-cho, hold on...” Digging through her purse, she pulled out the folded sheet she had printed off earlier. “It doesn't look like it'll be too hard to find?”

“Yeah, remember the last time you said that?” her friend teased. “Hmm, yes, I think we can find this. If I remember right, there's a used book shop right over here we should check out while we're in the neighborhood.”

“Well in that case, lead the way?” Abby suggested, putting on her sweetest smile.

“You just want to be able to blame me if we get lost!”

“Yup!” she agreed, laughing with her friend. Today was definitely shaping up to be a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Like my other active series, this one will only be updating once a month, though with April being Camp NaNo, it'll probably actually be _May_ before this set gets updated again, sorry. If you'd like to know what I'm up to in the mean time, feel free to check me out on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/yuuana)!


End file.
